


A Gravedigger's Victim

by surefireshore



Series: SurefireShore's Writuary 2020 [21]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: A Gravedigger's Envy, Alternate POV, Canon Compliant, Episode 152, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22427938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surefireshore/pseuds/surefireshore
Summary: In the cemetery monitored by Hezekiah Wakely, Jacob the Baker wakes in his grave.Please read content warnings in notes at the beginning.Writuary Day 25: Grave(and because I didn't finish it yesterday)Writuary Day 26: Cold
Series: SurefireShore's Writuary 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589320
Kudos: 9
Collections: Writuary 2020





	A Gravedigger's Victim

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The author knows only mostly how sound waves work and only mildly how 19th century burial practices worked. Suspension of disbelief is appreciated.
> 
> Content warnings for death, claustrophobia, suffocation, and just overall being buried. Please let me know if I should add any others.

Jacob awoke, but did not open his eyes. He remembered slipping on the muddy street the day before and could feel the soreness in his muscles from landing improperly.

He took a moment to thank God that he had awoken at all. Much less that he could wake in such peace as he had, in this cool and dark place.

The air did not smell right, though. It smelled . . . damp and earthy in a way his house did not normally, even given all the rain they had seen in the past week.

He opened his eyes, and only then realized that it was much darker than it should’ve been. There was no light anywhere, not from the moon or stars outside, not from a candle on the table nearby. There was nothing at all.

He tried to reach out in front of him but found he could not raise his hand more than a few inches above his thigh. Where he expected there to be cool open air or maybe a blanket, he felt only the rough scrape of wood. His breath caught in his chest. He put his hands to either side of him and felt the same unforgiving walls.

His breath started to come too quickly and erratically. After a moment of denial and confusion, he beat on the walls around him and heard only a dull thunk in return. With as much force as he could muster while lying on his back, he slammed his whole body into the wall to his right. His reward was a few meager pieces of cool earth sprinkling onto his face.

His blood ran cold and the fear in his lungs threatened to choke him. The sour sting of adrenaline raced through his veins to no avail. This was it. He was buried. He would die here.

In that moment, he remembered the bells the Reverend had installed. His relief escaped him in a sigh, and he scrabbled to find the rope that would save him.

He pulled, as fast and as far as his tight space would allow. There was a soft ringing sound above him. He clung to that sound like it were the voice of an angel, while jerking the rope in a broken rhythm. 

After a few minutes with no response, he worried no one could hear. He swung his clenched fist wider in the hopes of creating a louder sound. Over the ringing of the bell itself, he heard the thud as his hand slammed into wood. The rough wall around him scraped his knuckles with each passing and his thumb and the side of his palm at the end of each swing.

The dull cacophony of ringing and thumping matched the fear in his soul, only his fear seemed so much louder. Salty tears streamed from the corner of his eyes into the hairline by his temples. He yanked and pulled on the rope in whatever motions made the bell loudest to his ears, until he noticed the rope had no effect at all.

The ringing had stopped. In its place, it was all he could do to scream and scream and scream until at last he ran out of air.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
